[3]

Linda Blair’s still got demons, and Richard Burton’s trying to figure out what happened to the nice priests who got pea soup all over them in the first movie. Exorcist II: The Heretic is convoluted and esoteric, the action is minimal, and the horror non-existent. John Boorman (Excalibur, Deliverance) delivers a highly odd, surreal, and ultimately terrible sequel to The Exorcist. The cheap sets, overuse of rear projection, and hokey-looking visual effects give the film a low-rent, overly theatrical quality. Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack adds another layer of weirdness to the proceedings, alternating between laid-back lounge music and African death wailing. Then there’s Richard Burton, at the nadir of his downward spiral — I can’t decide if he’s desperately out of place or right at home in this mess. The whole movie feels like a whimsical experiment that should never have seen the light of day. With Louise Fletcher, James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow, Ned Beatty, and Paul Henreid (yes, this movie has a direct link to Casablanca).